Revelations
by archangel5
Summary: A chronicle of Rory's summer after Season 2's ending and what events caused her to choose Jess over Dean.


Author: Archangel

Title: Revelations

Pairing: Future Rory/Jess

Summary: A chronicle of Rory's summer after Season 2, explaining the events that led her to let go of her first love and find comfort in the arms of another-Jess.

Date: July 14th, 2002

A.N.: Thanks to Jocelyn for the idea. And thank you to Damon for not killing me for my attitude while I was working on this chapter.

Rory Gilmore sat on her couch, pretending to read a book. Lorelai looked away from the TV long enough to notice Rory's expression. "Ror, what's wrong?"

Rory met her mother's gaze and quickly looked away. "Nothing," she said, her voice trembling slightly.

Lorelai watched her daughter for a minute, and, deciding Rory wasn't ready to talk about whatever was bothering her, turned back to the TV. Rory would talk when she was ready to.

Rory was lost in thought. Just over a day ago, her life had been perfect. She had an amazing, open relationship with her mother, the best friends, almost perfect grades, and a perfect relationship with her boyfriend, Dean.

But yesterday afternoon, her life had changed. She had kissed Jess Mariano, Stars Hollow's resident bad boy. At a wedding, no less. A holy function! She had to stifle a laugh at this. She had never been particularly religious, but even she had to admit that cheating on your boyfriend at a wedding was bad. She groaned, standing up. "I'll be upstairs," she informed her mother before heading up the stairs to her room.

Pushing open her bedroom door, she ran across the room and collapsed onto her bed, mentally worn out. Laying there, she thought about Dean. Dean was perfect for her. He listened. He didn't run away screaming every time she or her mother said something crazy. He could reach the high shelves in the kitchen. He was a good kisser.

So was Jess. Rory held her fingers against her lips, thinking about the kiss. She had liked it, but she loved Dean. She did. So she'd have to forget about the kiss. Rory shook her head, abolishing the idea. If she didn't tell Dean, she'd just put herself in a worse position. Look what had happened when she hadn't told Dean she had kissed Tristan.

Rory picked up the phone and dialed Dean's number. His mother answered. "Hey, Mrs. Clark. This is Rory. Is Dean home?"

"Yes. Do you want me to put him on?"

Rory paused. "Um, no, that's okay. But Could you tell him to come over? It's important."

"Sure, dear. I'll see to it that he's over within ten minutes."

Rory winced. She was really going to do this. She sighed unhappily. It's not like she had much of a choice.

"Hey, Ror, my mom told me you wanted me to come over. What's up?" Dean glanced past Rory to see Lorelai banging pots and pans together in the kitchen. "Does something need to be fixed in there?"

Rory shook her head, feeling even worse. Here Dean was, about to find out what a bad girlfriend he had, and he was willing to do housework. "Jess and I kissed at the wedding and I feel really bad about it and I love you but now that you know what an awful person I am I understand if you want to leave and never see me again," Rory blurted out. It didn't feel as good as she'd hoped to have it off her chest.

Dean blinked, trying to process what Rory had just said. "I'll kill him," he finally said, raising a fist. "Who does he think he his, waltzing back in here and taking advantage of you?"

Rory shook her head. "No. Dean, he-" She took a deep breath and started over. "Dean, I kissed Jess. I wasn't thinking. He just kissed back."

Dean sighed, bringing his hand to his head. "Just? He _just _kissed back? Rory, I- Why'd you do this? Am I doing something wrong? Am I not being a good enough boyfriend for you?"

Rory shook her head sadly. "No, Dean, it's not that. You're perfect. I think it was just a moment of temporary insanity. I'd had a lethal amount of coffee that day." She smiled slightly. "Plus, I didn't even feel anything when I kissed him."

"Really," Dean asked, his voice hopeful.

Rory smiled, placing her hand over Dean's. "Really," she lied.

Dean laughed, kissing her lightly on the forehead. "Good, because I think it would be hard to never see you again in a town the size of Stars Hollow."

Luke Danes glanced up from behind the counter when he heard footsteps on the stairs. Turning around, he saw his nephew, Jess Mariano. Jess was holding a jacket in his hands, seemingly ready to run from the room. "Where are you going," Luke asked gruffly.

Jess shrugged. "Why?"

Luke sighed. "Because, Jess, if you're going to stay here, you need to understand that I'm in charge of you. Which means I need to know where you are. Lets try this again. Where are you going?"

Jess shrugged again. "Out," he answered, walking towards the door.

He had almost reached the door when Lorelai bounced in. "Hey, Luke, I need coffee."

Luke groaned, holding up his hand. "Jess, where are you going?"

Jess sighed. "I don't know. I was thinking about robbing a few convenience stores. I might as well throw a few banks in for the hell of it," he said sarcastically.

"Jess!"

Lorelai pulled on Luke's shirtsleeve. "Luke! Lukey, Luke! Coffee."

Luke sighed, turning to Lorelai. "No Rory today?" Jess paused by the door.

Lorelai shook her head. "Nope. My mini-me has been out of it since last night, after the wedding. She seemed conflicted."

"Conflicted? Wow, that's a big word for you," Luke joked. Jess grinned. Conflicted, huh?

Lorelai nodded. "Yes. She called Dean. They had a serious conversation, I think." She pouted. "He didn't even fix my sink for me. I signaled for him to do it."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Oh? How'd their talk end?"

Lorelai shrugged. "The same way as always. Kissy faces and saying, 'No, you're prettier.'"

Luke laughed. "So, Rory's okay?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, she seemed fi-" She was interrupted by the slamming of the door as Jess walked out. "Wonder what that was about?"

Luke shrugged. "Don't ask me. I don't understand him any better than you do."

"_He didn't even fix my sink for me."_ The words ran through Jess's head again and again as he walked through the streets of Stars Hollow. He sighed, turning toward the Gilmore house. He might as well fix it._ 'It has nothing to do with wanting to see Rory. I just don't have anything else to do,'_ he tried to reassure himself.

When he reached the house, Rory answered the door. "Oh, um, hey." She looked uncomfortable, shifting from one foot to the other.

Jess nodded. "Hey. I came to fix your sink."

Rory frowned. "My sink? What's wrong with my sink? The water runs."

Jess shrugged, stepping past Rory. "That's what I'm here to find out. Luke sent me," he lied.

Rory nodded. "Yeah, well, the sinks in there," she said, gesturing to the kitchen.

He stared at her. "I know." He watched as Rory blushed, her cheeks tinted with pink. He brushed past her, walking into the kitchen.

Rory paced around her living room, not sure what to do. '_Jess is in my house. Jess. I am trying to avoid Jess._' She sighed. Glancing into the kitchen, she watched as he crawled under her sink. '_He's kinda cute,_' she thought before quickly shaking her head. '_No, Dean's cute. Jess is Jess. I love Dean. Dean's my boyfriend,_' Rory corrected herself.

"Hey, Rory?" Rory jumped when she heard Jess's voice.

"Uh, what?"

"Do you know where you'd find a wrench around here?"

Rory frowned. "What's a wrench look like?"

Jess laughed. "Uh, never mind. I think I might have one in my coat pocket."

Rory nodded. "I'll get it for you. Don't crawl out." Walking into the kitchen, she grabbed Jess's jacket, which he had draped over a chair. She pulled the contents out of the pockets. A few tools, cigarettes, gum, and a bus ticket. She looked at the ticket. One way to New York. She picked up the cigarettes and tossed them in the trash. "Hey, I'm not sure which one."

"Hand them all to me." She did as he told her, her hand brushing against his. She jumped back. "Uh, are you going back to New York?"

Jess nodded. "Yeah. For three days. I'm picking up two of my friends. Luke said they could stay for the summer."

"Oh. Cool." Rory stopped herself from letting out a sigh of relief. What did she care if Jess stayed or not?

Jess scooted out from under the sink. "There. All done." He stood up, dusting off his clothes. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Rory nodded. "Feel free."

"Hey, Rory, the kiss was no big deal. I know you have a boyfriend and…I'm sorry if I complicated things." He paused. "It was just a kiss. I've already forgotten about it."

Rory smiled tightly. "Oh, uh, good. I told Dean…I'm going to Washington tomorrow, so you won't have to deal with me."

Jess laughed. "Hey, you aren't that bad."

Rory nodded. "Oh, gee, thanks." She paused. "Well, I guess I'll see you around."

"See ya." Jess left quickly, grabbing his coat.

"My favorite group is the Backstreet Boys," Lane said, glancing at Rory. 

Rory nodded. "Oh, cool."

Lane stared at her as if she had two heads. "Did you just say cool? What's wrong with you? I mean, I just said I liked pop music."

Rory glanced at her. "Sorry. I'm kind of out of it." She paused. "You don't really like pop music, do you?"

Lane laughed. "God, no." She sat up on the bed. "So what's going on?"

Rory sighed. "IkissedJess," she mumbled.

"I'm sorry, but that sounded like you said you kissed Jess. I heard wrong, right? I mean, I must have because you and Dean-"

"Lane," Rory cut her off. "You heard right."

Lane's jaw dropped. "Um, wow. So did you break up with Dean? He does know, right?"

Rory nodded. "Yeah, I told him, but we didn't break up."

Lane sighed. "How'd you pull that off?"

Rory shrugged. "I told him the truth. I told him it was a minute of temporary insanity."

Lane laughed. "You, insane? Yeah, right, Rory. So why'd you really kiss him? Do you have feelings for Jess?"

Rory shook her head. "No, of course not. I love Dean."

Lane shrugged. "Whatever you say. But I think Jess is bad news. Watch out, okay, Rory?"

Rory shrugged. "Nothing's going to happen."

Lane nodded, and Rory knew she had reassured her friend. "So, do you mind if I call Henry," Lane asked.

"No, I already told you, I know," Rory said into the phone, aggravated.

Paris let out a huff. "I'm just reminding you, Rory. We represent Chilton there. So bring formal clothing. I don't want to have to worry about you being underdressed."

Rory sighed. "Paris, I'm telling you, you don't need to worry about me."

"Fine, but you better be prepared. I emailed you a list-"

"I got the list and everything's already checked off."

"Be at the airport two hours early, just in case my father's pilot-"

Rory groaned. "You put that at the bottom of the email. I'm gonna go now."

"Fine. Bye."

"Bye."

Rory hung up the phone, and standing up, she stretched. She had something against her window. Turning towards the window, it took her a minute to realize they were tiny pebbles. Opening the window, she saw Dean standing on her lawn. "What are you-," she started, but stopped when she got hit in the cheek with a pebble.

Dean gasped. "Oh my God. I'm so sorry. Rory, are you-"

Rory started laughing. "Yeah. I'll be down in a minute." She ran down the stairs and by her mother, out the front door. Dean stood outside, waiting for her. "Hey, you."

He smiled stiffly. "Hey."

Rory cocked her head to the side. "Why didn't you just come in?"

Dean bit his lip. "Uh, Rory. You're leaving tomorrow and I'm going to stay with my aunt in Chicago for a few weeks."

"Yeah, I know."

Dean sighed. "Well, um, I was thinking…maybe we should take a break. That way we can see other people while we're away."

Rory's mouth dropped open. "You mean you want to see other people." Her voice came out more harsh than she intended.

Dean sighed. "Ror, you're the one who kissed someone else. I think you need time to think about it anyway."

Rory laughed harshly. "That's not what this is about, Dean. If it was, you would've broken up with me when I told you. What is it? Do you have another girlfriend back in Chicago?"

Dean shook his head. "No, Rory, I-"

Rory shook her head. "Save it," she said, marching back inside. "Mom," she called.

Lorelai came skipping out of the kitchen, a cup of coffee in her hand. "What's wrong, honey?"

Rory sat down on the couch. "I just broke up with Dean."

Lorelai frowned. "You want coffee?"

Rory nodded.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A.N.- Sorry this chapter was so short. I've been…busy. The next one will probably be longer.


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